Alex's Free-for-all Paulée

Draper's Arms, N1
Tasted Wednesday, March 12, 2025 by oenanthe with 149 views

Introduction

c40 enthusiasts/sufferers of enthusiasts met at the Draper's Arms in Islington for a massive knees up. Three huge tables, staggering quantities of wine (why did we all bring magnums?), lovely food and fabulous conversation - on my table largely not about wine! It was virtually impossible to eat, drink, engage in conversation *and* make meaningful notes, so the following are my vague scribbles. These of course got vaguer and vaguer, and as such I have transcribed them more or less as I wrote them and not bothered to assign any points.

Flight 1 - Fizz (2 Notes)

  • NV Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Premier

    France, Champagne

    Fresh, some sweetness but ok if cold. Quite a pleasing mild mousse for my tastes. Very balanced middle-of-the-road champagne. The very definition of a crowd-pleaser, if you had to describe a typical champagne you would describe exactly this, is has all you could want. From a magnum and probably a 2018 disgorgement.

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  • 2016 Nyetimber Blanc de Blancs

    United Kingdom, England, Sussex, West Sussex

    Overwhelming nose and of fresh strawberries. Quite interesting, much leaner than the Roederer, more lemon and lime and less bread and yeast. harder therefore to enjoy from the get-go, but nonetheless one of the best ESWs I can remember. From a magnum.

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Flight 2 - Rosé Fizz (1 Note)

Flight 3 - Not Chardonnay (2 Notes)

  • 2018 Von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Kabinett

    Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

    Clean as a whistle, light, elegant and really rather zippy. Could drink a lot of this. Well judged acidity and a lively streak of petrol to balance the sweetness. Great. From a magnum which had the dimensions of a baseball bat and would need to be stored in an umbrella basket.

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  • 2017 Alheit Vineyards Huilkrans

    South Africa, Olifants River, Citrusdal

    Fragrant, fresh, needed to be a bit colder but a decent wine. Mineral, chalk and wax, pure pale fruit, quite tingly. All very nice, but equally it is hard to see where these ludicrous prices are coming from. Great if you bought on release, less great if you're chasing it now.

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Flight 4 - Chardonnay (3 Notes)

Flight 5 - New World Red (2 Notes)

  • 2014 Porseleinberg Swartland

    South Africa, Coastal Region, Swartland

    Dark red, savoury and delicious. Sweet kirsch, dusting of spice, a hint of vanilla. Elegant and fresh-tasting. Really rather nice.

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  • 2012 Seña

    Chile, Aconcagua Valley

    More tart than others (not sure what others?!). Fluid, savoury, herbal with mint dominating. Enjoyable.

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Flight 6 - Piedmont (3 Notes)

  • 2019 Poderi Colla Barbaresco Roncaglie

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

    Lovely pale red. Far more approachable than I thought it could be. It’s a little terse perhaps, nobody can say that the iron wall isn't there, but that nebbiolo purity seems to make you forget that – a diversionary tactic!

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  • 2018 Massolino Barolo

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Beautiful, a wonderful nose of wild cherry, a posy of flowers. So easy, a lifted quality to it. Very tasty, quite a simple wine, this would be a good wine to serve to people who said they didn't like Barolo as it was too tough. Glad I own this. From a magnum.

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  • 2013 E. Pira & Figli (Chiara Boschis) Barolo Via Nuova

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo

    Much darker than the Massolino that came before it. Dryer, less obvious fruit, savoury and chewy. This is much harder work and difficult to enjoy this evening. I mean it is likely all there, but it won't be coaxed out at a mere 12 years old! How long does it need?

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Flight 7 - Rioja (3 Notes)

Flight 8 - Southern France (3 Notes)

  • 2015 François Merlin Côte-Rôtie

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

    The only thing my scrawled note says is "incredible nose", which I see is consistent with an earlier and more comprehensive tasting of this vintage.

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  • 2015 Domaine de Trévallon

    France, Provence, Alpilles

    The briefest sip as I was seriously flagging but this felt dark and serious, with dense fruit. Felt age-worthy but not yet fully ready to go.

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  • 2015 Domaine Raspail-Ay Gigondas

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas

    Deep red in the glass but lighter fruited on the palate. A small taste just after opening showed this to have a red-fruit core and a hefty whack of tannins still, but perhaps 6 hours later it was firing on all cylinders and had, I felt, a beguiling purity about it. I might buy more despite the hefty 15% as you could not really tell. From a magnum.

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Flight 9 - Sweet (1 Note)

  • 2013 Domaine Cauhapé Jurançon Ballet d'Octobre

    France, Southwest France, Jurançon

    Medium copper colour. Some weighty richness here, but not ponderous. Lovely mouthfeel to the extent my mouth was feeling anything at all at this stage. Actually quite lively in places, with a citrus orange bent. Went really well with Tarte Tatin.

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Closing

Wonderful evening, well done Alex for organising such a huge crowd. I think magnums should be banned from future events as I felt a little ropey the following day and I suspect a lot of wine went to waste! Great fun though, my wife got to meet a few of my fellow wine nerds and came away having had a lovely time chatting away so all good on that front too.

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